I'll broaden this a bit because the original topic is why buy a copy. The only copies of real interest to me are Sugino cranks and Suntour Superbe cranks which were cheaper and excellent compared to Campy. Perhaps they are less liable to break also. The Superbe brakes give you a better finish and are a bit lighter.
To me the greatest shortcomings of a Campagnolo gruppo are the single bolt seatpost (marginal holding), sometimes poor headset life, bent rear hub axles, primitive cup and cone bearings, adequite but less than ideal shifting over a middling range, high braking effort, relatively high weight and cost. I think the headset accusation may be a bum rap because Campy made some less than durable batches of headsets, then recovered the magic and the bum ones are gone.
So I like a lot of stuff that are not Campy copies, but do a better job. First generation Superbe (all of it except the headsets and replace the alloy bolts on the seatpost), Hi-E hubs (the "heavy" duty ones), Pino skewars, American Classic seatposts, Chris King headsets, Edco headsets, Suntour Cyclone derailleurs, Reedy pedals, OMAS BB.
I have always used this sort stuff from the moment it was available and think of an all Campagnolo bike as pretty boring and less than optimal functionally. It is hard to beat the cosmetics of Campagnolo though. It is also the simple benchmark of correct, durable and sufficient components if you don't care to wade through the less than great alternatives.
Touring gear is another subject and Campagnolo never got that together at all.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Geat Notch, NJ
>
\r?\n> In a message dated 4/24/07 8:47:26 PM, Chuck writes:
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Call me elitist (i don't mind in the least) but I've never
\r?\n> understood > why anyone would want to buy a copy of Campagnolo
\r?\n> instead of the
\r?\n> > original? Was it just about price?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Anyone?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Chuck Schmidt
\r?\n> > South Pasadena, CA
\r?\n> >
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Part of it may be price... actually, back when this stuff
\r?\n> was new I think that may have been the primary motivation.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> But these days when some of these purchases may be for
\r?\n> use and others simply for a collection, I think it may have
\r?\n> to do with the curious idiosyncracies that some of these
\r?\n> parts have. I know a few folks who collect Leica copies
\r?\n> and knock-offs for the same reason. Few if any match
\r?\n> the elegance, performance and durability of the original,
\r?\n> yet they are often interesting in their own right.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Bob Hovey
\r?\n> Columbus, GA
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> **************************************
\r?\n> See what's free at http://www.aol.com.